Ten C's Teaching Tips and Suggested Lesson "Hikes"
for the Ten Commandments CD from Sunday Software

Other Ten Commandments CD Docs:
Navigational Tips, Tricks, Insights and Secret Stuff, PLUS... Technical Help
 The Complete Ten C's CD Outline with study notes.
Ten Commandments CD Description Page

Teaching Tips and Suggested Lesson "Hikes"
for Sunday Software's Ten Commandments CD

3 Big Tips:

  1. This CD was designed to be explored by students with a teacher by their side. If you're not using it this way, you're missing a neat opportunity!
  2. This CD was designed to be used for MORE THAN ONE WEEK by the same class. However, there are some "one class period hikes" that are suggested below.
  3. Almost every activity and learning area in the CD has discussion questions built-in to stop and ponder --if you desire. Be selective. We didn't put them there thinking everyone should stop at everything. Pick the questions you'd most like to have them deal with and write them on a worksheet or the board in the class.

What the CD doesn't cover....

In the opening introduction Moses brings your students up-to-date on how the Hebrews got to Sinai and received the Ten Commandments. The CD doesn't recount the pre-Red Sea story and only touches on the golden calf in Moses' intro. It also doesn't it say anything about the next 40 years of wandering. The Ten Commandments CD focuses on learning the commandments themselves, the concept of Law and obedience. View our Exodus Adventures CD (www.sundaysoftware.com/Exodus) for a great piece of software that takes you through Egypt, across the Red Sea and through the wilderness stories.

Wow...there's a lot here!

There is far more on the journey up Mt. Sinai than can be fully explored and discussed in one sitting. This is intentional! However, by picking and choosing your way up the mountain's activities, you can get through the main parts of the CD in one class period. The main difference between doing it in one period and stretching it over several is the amount of time you take discussing hotspot content and questions posed by the hotspots.

In my first class we "grazed" over content, showing them basic navigational techniques and where things were. They were happy enough surveying each level, taking in the view at the Summit, and get dizzy spinning the photobubbles. In our second class, we slowed down and were more methodical taking one of the suggested hikes, bypassing some content and focusing on other. Except for a few items, all content can be clicked past.

The CD for older students: Ten Commandments was really designed for older children and youth. Not everything reads aloud. If you're a teacher in a hurry to get through the CD make a list of the areas you want them to explore. In my "Hikes" and worksheet examples below, you can see how I created a list of questions they had to find the answers to.

The CD for younger students -ages 5 through 9: They were happy to watch Moses, pet the camel, and make things pop-up. We had a great discussion about "what God's voice really sounds like" while rolling over various Commandments on the tablets which pop up out of the Ark in the Monastery. Reading the study notes that show up on the Ark, however, was over their heads. I have more notes on this below.....

Questions are presented in most areas following a multimedia presentations. These are for older students to discuss and move the lesson deeper into reflection. Younger students may need the teacher to reinterpret them. There are a lot of them salted throughout the program and it is not expected that students or teachers will want to or be able to discuss all of them.

You can see the text of these questions in the OUTLINE document.

There are two "don't miss" areas...

The Bridge Over Chaos Canyon in the first photobubble, and the I Am Yahweh 3-D music video found at the Summit. The Bridge cannot be bypassed. It must be crossed to move to the second photobubble. You can find the "open door icon" entrance to the Bridge just to the right of the mule's rear-end (or in the greenery left of the mountain if you'd rather remember it THAT way). The I Am Yahweh music video can be found by clicking on the sleeping bags at the Summit.

Where are the Ten Commandments?

The text of the Ten Commandments are presented three different times and ways along the journey, one in each photobubble. In the Monastery in the bottom photobubble students can see them and click on them to pull up short study notes. In the second photobubble students reassemble the Ten Commandments. At the Summit Chapel, students rewrite the commandments.

Before you begin....

It is recommended that you and your class read the Mt. Sinai portions of the Exodus story from the Bible prior to using this CD. Exodus 19 is a rather brief chapter. It covers their arrival at the Mountain and Moses' meeting with God. Exodus 20 is also rather brief. It includes the Ten Commandments.

You may want to have a print-out of the Ten Commandment Tablets as you start the program. You can copy our Ten C's Tablet graphic from www.sundaysoftware.com/ten/images/tencommands.jpg or print out the tablets from the Summit Chapel prior to the beginning of class. Set your printer to "draft" or "economy" mode to ensure it will print (test the printing first if you will be using that area). Some computers/printers may not be able to handle this print function. That's why we offer the same document at our website.

Lutherans MAY notice that the numbering of the Ten Commandments is different than what they expect. That's because historically there were two competing ways to number the Ten C's. The CD follows the most popular and well-known numbering convention followed by most Protestants and Roman Catholics. Go to www.sundaysoftware.com/ten/number.htm for the story behind why there are historically two different numbering methods.

Have a map of the Exodus route in your classroom. Check out the Exodus story map in the CD Bible Atlas - Walking in Their Sandals. Sunday School Software has a free worksheet for this map at http://www.sundaysoftware.com/sandals.htm. Moses shows a satellite image of the Sinai Peninsula in his office presentation.

Print out a copy of the Ten Commandments Outline and familiarize yourself where things are. Remember...to cross Chaos Canyon you must click on the Shipwreck, the Chaos Canyon Sign and the Promised Land sign.

If your experience strange noises in any of the animations/videos or poor photobubble performance, consult our Ten C's Techie Tips: www.sundaysoftware.com/tennotes.htm

You will want to adjust the following suggested "hikes" depending on time available and age of hikers.

Here are three suggested "Lesson Hikes"
for hikers who only have about 45 to 50 minutes to hike around Mt. Sinai.
Use one of these or one of your own design if your students will only be in the program once (such as in a Rotation Model computer lab). Use Worksheets to Guide Students to Specific Content. Worksheets help guide students and provide a basis for further discussion away from the program. Writing things down as they go through will also help them remember the lesson.

50 Minute Hike #1 -- "Discover & Summarize the Commandments"

1) Begin in Moses' office.... What does he say about the reasons God gave the commandments?

2) In the Monastery... Read the tablets and try to sum them all up in one sentence.

3) Then view the video presentation on "The 11th Commandment?" located on wall behind the Ark.

4) While crossing Chaos Canyon bridge, focus on the second plank "Purpose of God's Law." Come up with another "metaphor" (other than gravity) for God's Law. "God's Law is like _____."

5) View Sunspot in second photobubble about "Stealing." (This relates to the topic in the 11th Commandment video). How does "Stealing" sum up the commandments?

6) View the "Greatest Commandment" presentation at the end of the trail in second photobubble.
How did Jesus sum up the commandments?

7) Take the Cliff Climb Quiz (if time).

8 At the Summit photobubble click on the people in the sleeping bag to launch I Am Yahweh presentation. What does Yahweh want us to do?

9) In I Am Yahweh presentation listen for the kids voices in the middle of the song summarizing the commandments. Have students write these down and discuss.

10) Leave your thoughts in the Guestbook (if time).

50 Minute Hike #2 -- Discover & Focus on Remembering Individual Commandments

1) Begin with Moses' presentation. Skip this if they've already seen it.

2) Find and listen to the individual commandments in the Monastery. Read the general study notes that appear on the Ark of the Covenant.

3) View and discuss/respond to the Sabbath Sunspot and its question in the first photobubble.

4) Go to Chaos Canyon and focus on the "Anti-Commandments" at Chaos Canyon. Summarize the what the Anti-Commandments are about here: __________.

5) Take the Cliff Climb Quiz located in the photobubble after Chaos Canyon.

6) Go into the Summit Chapel and rewrite any of the three versions you'd like, then print the commandments.

7) Go back to the second photobubble and don't listen to the critter ---go ahead and touch the tablets! ...then reassemble them.

8) Go back to the Summit and leave some thoughts in the Guestbook. Skip this if you don't have time.

45 to 50 Minute Hike #2 -- A General Tour of Mt. Sinai with Questions to Answer

Here are some questions to answer as you hike up Mt. Sinai.

First Photobubble:


Monastery: Select one of the questions which follow the videos in the Monastery and answer it here...
Sunspot: What is one special thing you have done to keep the Sabbath holy?
Bridge over Chaos Canyon: Come up with another "Anti-Commandment" (ways of living, rules, or pressures that guide some people).
Bridge Over Chaos Canyon: What is the significance of the bridge's name?
Bridge: According to Psalm _____ Where does your help come from?

Second Photobubble:

Sunspot: What other ways do people around you steal? ...and what can you do about it?
End of Trail: What is the Great Commandment and who spoke it?

Click the cliff side to take the Cliff Climb Quiz.

Third Photobubble:

Whose house can you see from Mt. Sinai?
Cleft in Rock where people are in sleeping bags: According to Yahweh, why should you follow him?
What were the "summary commandments" spoken by youth during the music video?
Visit the Chapel and print the page after rewriting three commandments you feel could use some better wording.
Share the question you wrote in the Guestbook...

**Be prepared to share your findings and reflections with the class.

Suggested HIKES for two or more lesson periods:

1) Explore one photobubble per week. There are certainly PLENTY of discussion starter topics in each, especially in the full screen cloud commandment panels and Bridge Over Chaos Canyon.

2) Do all three "rewriting the Ten Commandments" choices in the Summit Chapel --a different one each week. Print and discuss.

3) Create a Wall Map of Mt Sinai based on the photobubbles and have the kids mark locations after each exploration. Label items and fill in info "about the Monastery," about Mt. Sinai's location and elevation," etc.

Suggested Introductory Hike -or- 30 Minute Hike

1) Begin in Moses's office

2) Visit the Monastery and browse the Ten Commandments.

3) Cross Chaos Canyon

4) Teens and Pre-teens visit and discuss the Billboards and the Great Commandment presentation.
Younger children visit the Cliff Climb Quiz.

5) Take in the view from the top, print a set of the Ten Commandments in the Summit Chapel, view the I Am Yahweh music video.

If time, choose between the Assembling of the Ten Commandments game (back down in the second photobubble) or signing in the Guestbook.

Suggested Hike Through the Entire CD's Contents:

Using the outline and many of the questions provided in it, have students methodically visit all the areas in each photobubble and respond to each areas questions and suggestions. This could take two 50 minute classes or more. You could format your "guide" and questions in the form of a booklet that students must fill out.

Using this CD with Younger Students:

The Ten Commandments CD was designed with a 9 to 18 year old in mind. However, a good deal of the CDs activities are quite usable by younger children.

I had my first and second graders in for a whirl and they thoroughly enjoyed meeting Moses and "hiking" around the mountain. They needed extra time to navigate with the mouse. With one or two children I put my hand ON-TOP of theirs to help them navigate and click (don't take the mouse from them).

In the Bottom photobubble younger children will enjoy one or two of the Monastery's videos --found by clicking the Stained Glass behind the ark, or the Sun. The questions at the end of each video will need read aloud and perhaps rephrased or skipped altogether. We read a few of the Bridge Over Chaos Canyon's "panels" to them, but some of the concepts were over their heads. What they DID notice was the missing plank! ...and were thrilled to make it across and oohed and aaahed at the rainbow behind the cross. Great discussion opportunities.

The Leap of Faith scripture texts needed some explaining to elementary children. Ask them to define "righteousness," "put right," and "redemption." We chose to use this familiar vocabulary because of the important these verses and specific words have in the Christian message.

The Second "Way Up" photobubble may be skipped for this age group altogether. The Idol" presentations probably won't be understandable to younger children. If you have time and they can read a bit they will enjoy reassembling the Ten Commandments in the Way Up photobubble. My little kids did just fine on the Cliff Climb quiz and thought it was great fun.

At the Summit they enjoyed the vista and we talked about how Moses must have felt up there. They enjoyed hearing "God's song" and laughed really hard at the guy with the backpack's funny comment about "seeing his house from here." We didn't go into the Chapel but it's rewriting of the commandments will work fine for younger kids as long as they have an older child who can type for them.

All in all....I wouldn't hesitate to use theprogram selectively with younger kids AT AL L...... as long as you have a teacher or assistant at EVERY computer like we did.

The Chapel Summit's Rewriting Activity...

Inside the Chapel at the summit is a set of stone tablets your students can type their own commandments on. Instructions are on the screen and Moses has put some examples of variant commandment versions on the Clipboard (just click it).

The Chapel Summit "rewrite" of the Ten Commandments may take 10 minutes or so to complete. If you're rushed for time, find more time. Barring that, I suggest that you split up various commandments between students (who can be thinking of their version of the commandment and be ready to type when it is their turn) or have different computers working on different commandments to rewrite (if you have more than one copy of the CD).

Another option Moses didn't think to put on his clipboard is rewriting is to state each commandments in a POSITIVE WAY. Thus, instead of "You shall not murder" your students might write "Help Protect Human Life," and "Always Tell the Truth."

You can also print out a blank set of the tablets. fyi.... Moses' picture prints out next to the tablets and the printout will leave plenty of space below the Tablets and Moses for notes and other stuff.

The boombox has several songs in it, just click the box or speaker to change songs. One of the selections has no sound so they can work in silence.

**Warning: Clicking the Trash can will ERASE everything typed on the screen.

To order more of the Ten Commandments CD or see our other great Christian software offerings, visit www.sundaysoftware.com or call 1-614-527-8776. This document was printed from www.sundaysoftware.com/tentips.htm

Copyright Sunday Software Inc. All Rights Reserved. For local teaching use only. Printed from www.sundaysoftware.com/tentips.htm